Fiji Hindi, now available in Forvo

July 27, 2017

Fiji Hindi, also known as Fijian Hindi or Hindustani more locally, is spoken by many Fijian citizens of Indian descent. An Eastern Hindi language, it is considered to be an older dialect of the Awadhi, a language that is spoken in central and east Uttar Pradesh, which has been considerably influenced by Bhojpuri and Magahi (soon to be added in Forvo), as well as Bihari. Although many Fijian and English words have been borrowed, there are some unique Fiji Hindi words that have been created to cater for the new environment that these people live in.

Although this language was only a spoken language until recently, nowadays there are writers who use Fiji Hindi as a literary language. In this sense, The Bible has been translated into this language and even universities, like the University of the South Pacific, offers courses in the language. Fiji Hindi can be written using both the Latin and the Devanāgarī script.